A deal to end a stalemate between Saudi Arabia and Russia -that has driven oil prices to two-decade lows - could be in the works.

President Donald Trump Thursday said he expects an arrangement between the two sides, tweeting: "Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, and I expect and hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 million barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be great for the oil and gas industry." In a second tweet - Trump said the cut could be 15 million barrels.

Crude oil prices soared on hopes of a deal - at one point gaining as much as 47 percent in Europe and 35 percent in the U.S. But gains cooled significantly as reports surfaced that the Saudis may only be willing to cut output by about 3 million barrels per day.

The Saudis are planning to call for an emergency OPEC meeting, according to state media.

Such a global cut in production by 10 million to 15 million barrels of oil per day would be unprecedented, requiring OPEC and non-OPEC members to comply.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic caused a plummet in oil demand, the Saudis had been pushing for a cut in production to shore up prices...but the Russians would not go along.

Things reached a boiling point last month with the two sides unable to agree, resulting in the Saudis flooding the market with cheap oil, and prices crashed.

Even with Thursday's solid rally - global crude oil prices were still down 55 percent so far this year.